Highway and similar foundation



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J. -I. ANNIE@ 4 HIGHWAY AND SIMILAR FOUNDATION ININIMI NIM, I, INN.

J. lll-il. AMW@ HIGHWAY AND SIMILAR FOUNDATION Filed Feb. 16. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lli lllll tlll tlll

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,application tiled llebruary lo, tutti.

lo all reto/ia it may concern:

ide it lmown that l, losnrrr Har diams, a citiaen ot the llnited States, residing at the cit ol Philadelphia., in the county oliI ljhilade phia and @tate ot Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful llighway and dimilar Foundations, ot which the toln lowing is a specihcation.

plhis invention generally stated relates to the building ot' hi hway toundations and has more especial re ation to the construction ot what are commonly termed concrete highway toundations.

s at present practiced7 so called concrete road-beds are generally unsatistactory, particularly when requiredto sustain considerable motor-vehicle trailic. llaperience demonstrates that the sub-graole ot a highway, even when thoroughl rolled, will under considerable motonve ic e tradito, acquire depressions 'in a more or less uneven manner. lille bed ol concrete superimposed upon such subgrade being hard, brittle and unsu ported where such depressions occur., w1ll craclr under sustained motor-vehicle trahie. lilaperience demonstrates that poor `highway conditions reault quite as itreuuentlv trom this cause as trom lrost attaching the subgrade with consequent eapansion and contraction thereol.

llhe leading object ot the present invention may be said to reside in the method el building a highway or lilre -toundation in which not only is the roadbed prevented trom creeping or shitting with respect 'to the sub-grade but b; its unique structure precludes the possibi ity ol trost attaching the sub-grade. y

llther and turther objects will hereinatter appear,

MLhe invention consists otimprovernents ,I hereinalter described and tlnally claimed.

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Vlhe naturacharacteristic 'leatures and scope ol the invention will bemore tally understood trom 4the 'lollowing description talren in connection with the accompanying drawings torming part bereut `and in which 2m hig. l., is a to or plan view ol aeeotion oil' highway il ustrating two horiaontal planes thereoll.

t9 ie a view in transverse section talren upon the line am@ ol Fig. l.

llig. d, isa'similar view talren upon the line 3--3 ol hig. l.

tl ia a lragmentary view in longilanv llerial lllo.' lllllldldll.

ent preferred by me, since the same has been tound in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities ot which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization ol the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

lllhile in the drawings a highway :lf'ounda tion is shown and the following descriptiom tor illustrative purposes is restricted thereu to, obviously the principles ot the present ,invention are applicable to other structures embodying a sub-grade vand a cementitious superstructure.

ln practicing the present invention the sub-grade l0 it necessary is lirst thorougly rolled to secure necessary compaetness and aneven surztace. lli longitudinal trench ll is then tormed along each side ol the highway throughout its extent. ln practice one otI these trenches is dug deeper than the other. its an example, good'results have been obtained by torming one trench about 20 below the subgrade surface and the other about 30" below the sub-grade surlaoe. llt suitable intervals throughout the length ol the highway these longitudinal trenches are connected by lorming transverse ,trenches 12. lheseA transverse drains may occur every 25" or 50 as desired and incline trom the relatively shallow to the relative-deep longitudinal ditch. ln practice the ditches ll and l2 are termed substantially llt-shaped. 'lhese trenches may now be partially hlled with relatively small stones b'rolren stone orl equivalent material lll as s own in .lliga l to 5 inclusive. itt least 'lroin om to lul et `space should be lett between the vup er lace oll the subgrade and the upper leve ol the material placed within the trenches. '.lhere is neat termed in the subgrade, between the transverse trenches a plurality oil spawned lill till

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lllti trenches 1 1 so filled with cementitious material form but-tresses 16 for supporting the varch of the road bed. The transverse trenches so filled form beams 17 for sustaining weight which would otherwise rest upon the sub-grade. The cavities or openings 14 so illedform buttresses 18 which function to evenly distribute weight of trafiic over the subgrade. That part of a trench below the cementitious filling of course serves to facilitate proper drainage which is essential to proper highway construction. In this connection it will be understood that water passes from the upper or shallow trench to the lower or deeper trench through the transverse trenches thus draining efficiently the sub-grade beneath the highway. If desired the transverse Vtrenches may be extended through the deepest longitudinal trench for a short distance, as shownin Fig. 2, in order to more effectively drain the sub-grade. Not only do the trenches form an effective system, of drainage' but frost is prevented from attacking. the sub-grade. This is true because the trenches form air-chambers which preclude frost passing thereto through to the sub-grade. This is a very important vpoint in highway construction in that freezing and thawing of the sub-grade soon ruins the highway super-structures. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, anchors 17 usually of steel` are provided. These anchors are driven down through the cementitious super-structure into the buttresses 18 in some instances and in other instances partially through these buttresses into the sub-grade before the initial set of the cementitious material takes place. Such anchors function to securely hold the super-structure with respect to the sub-grade. These anchors also serve to dissipate shock and vibration of trailic.

In Fig. 6. there is shown a slightly modi Y fied form of trench construction. The stone filling is omitted and there is extended across the trench and anchored in the soil of the road a stiff wiremesh 20. The cementitious material is then oured in the trenches as above described. hus the trenches may be open for the free flow of water.

In Fig. 7, the wire mesh 21 may be So curved that the ends thereof are caused to rest upon the bottom of the trench. This allows the cementitious composition to rest between the wire mesh and the sides of the drain and also to rest upon the bottom of the trench.

It will now be apparent thatI have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and `reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit'or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What I claim is: 1. A foundation of the character stated comprising a sub-grade provided along each side thereof with a trench of which one is relatively deep and the other relatively shallow, a plurality of other trenches extended transversely through the sub-grade and inclining from the shallow toward the deeper of and communicating with the longitudinal trenches, and a cementitious superstructure for said sub-grade the material of which partially fills said trenches to form buttresses for supporting the arch of the road bed and means within said trenches for supporting said cementitious material free of the trench bottoms for drainage purposes. V

2. A construction as described in claim 1, characterized by a plurality of spaced but` tresses of cementitious material located in the sub-grade- 3. A construction as described in claim 1, characterized by a plurality of spaced cementitious buttresses located in the subgradc and a metallic anchor for each buttress for securing the super-structure to the sub-grade.

4. A foundation of the character stated comprising a sub-grade provided along each side thereof with a trench of which one is relatively shallow and the other relatively deep, a plurality of other trenches extended transversely through the sub-grade and inclining from the shallow toward the deeper trench and communicating with said longitudinal trenches which latter trenches are at least partially filled' with broken stone or equivalent material to provide firm, une yielding bases, and a cementitious superstructure for said sub-grade the material of which rests upon such bases to form buttlgreses for supporting the arch ofthe road 5. A construction as described in claim 4, characterized by said lon `tudinal trenches beingy V-shaped to resist s ook and attrition of traflic.

- 6. A construction as described in claim 5, characterized by a plurality of spaced compartments in the subgrade which are filled retener uittiseidl cernentitious materiell sirnullteneousily with the urched super-structure in order toA secure unison ot oet whereby the i arched super-structure is heid. to the but 5 tresses thus torruedl.A

'il t construction ue described! in etui 4t, churecterized by anchors toi' holding the arched super-structure with respect to the sub-grade und to accept shock und attrition of trac und refer suine to the sub-grotte.

itu testimony whereof, it have hereunto signed my nenne.

JSIEPH HAY ANNEES. 

